


paladin or blade

by floralklance (heroiclly)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotions, Keith is raised by his mom, M/M, Mates, Secret Crush, Slow Build, Slow Burn, and he is badass spy, and not as angry and emo all the time, as a blade of marmora, yay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:43:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13342464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroiclly/pseuds/floralklance
Summary: Keith is raised by his mother, as a Blade of Marmora. They take the Red Lion from Galra control and have a meeting with the Paladins of Voltron. Soon, the Paladins will find out just how fierce a Galra gets when their mate is harmed.





	1. i. red roses and pretty lilies

Gentle fingers ran through thick black hair, careful claws scratching at the scalp. “Little one. Time to wake up.” The woman’s quiet voice broke through the haze of sleep. Her hand left his head as he sat up. “Good morning.” She says, as she stands, stretching her legs, her tail whipping around her legs.

  
“Morning, Mom.” The boy says and swings his legs off the bed, standing. He hissed, his feet meeting the cold metal floor. His mother was already dressed in her suit, her hood over her head, mask off, her ears swiveled forward. “Why already dressed?” He asks, pulling on his suit, while his mother fixes his hair. She extends her claws a bit, slicing off a small piece of his hair.

  
“It’s gotten long, little one.” Her son sighs.

  
“Mom. I’m little anymore.” He says, turning to pout. She laughs.

  
“Oh, Keith. You will always be my little one.” She says, gathering him in her arms, purring deep in her throat as she nuzzles his head. She lets go and fixes his suit, before pulling his hood up, watching as her son’s face is masked. “We have recently gotten into contact with the Paladins of Voltron. Remeber our mission in retrieving the Red Lion.”

  
“Oh! My first mission!” Keith says, following his mother out of the room and down the dimly lit hall. She chuckles and nods.

  
“Yes. They tracked it here and we allowed them to come aboard. You will be in the meeting as well, to get a grip of diplomacy.” She says, gesturing with clenching her fist. Keith speeds up his steps to be in pace with his mothers. She was walking relatively slow, but her steps were long. They arrive at the hall and she activates her mask, patting his head and opens the door.

Keith could feel his mothers demeanor change. She was always more open around Keith. Or rather when they were alone. She always became hard and professional when they were around others.

  
“Ah. Elvera. Paladins. This is Elvera, the best spy we have in our ranks.” Elvera chuckles.

  
“Kolivan, you flatter me,” Elvera says, guiding Keith to the left of the long table, to sit across from the Paladins. They sat in a row, with a woman dressed in a formal dress sitting to the immediate right for Kolivan.

She wore a circlet of gold with a bright blue jewel in the middle of it. His mother sat to Kolivans immediate left and Keith sat next to his mother. He eyed the rest of the Paladins and cringed. The one in green was typing away at a screen, the one in Yellow was eating messily, crumbs falling on the table and the one in blue was flirting with the guards. Or rather, attempting to. The only mature one seemed to be the one in black.

“Keith?” His mother spoke, tilting her head downwards. Keith looked up.

  
“I apologize. Could you repeat the question?” He asks.

  
“Will you show us to the Red Lion?” The woman asks, arching an eyebrow. It was similar to when his mother did it, often when she was annoyed or disgusted. Keith wasn’t sure which one it was. He nods and stands. He leads them out, hearing his mother whisper something in Galran to Kolivan.

* * *

He enters the hangar and can’t help himself. He jogs to the particle barrier the Red Lion had up, setting his hand on it. “Hey, girl. How are you feeling today?” He asks. The particle barrier stands for a second, before falling and Keith walks in, swinging his arms as the Red Lion lowers her head.

  
“Wait, wait, wait!” The Blue Paladin comes over, frowning, waving his hands. Up close Keith can see how blue his eyes are. He’s a few inches taller than Keith, but Keith is used to looking up at people. “You’re the Red Paladin?” He says, his teeth flashing bright white and Keith finds himself entranced by the Blue Paladin. The Black Paladin walks over.

  
“Not that it’s bad. It’s good that the Red Lion found her Paladin.” Keith angles his head. The Black Paladin is a different kind of handsome than the Blue Paladin. Keith frowns. When did he start thinking that the Blue Paladin was handsome? His mother walks up, setting a hand on his shoulder.

  
“I believe we will have to speak about this.”

* * *

His mother was behind clear glass, speaking to the Princess and the Black Paladin. Keith was sitting on the floor, in a circle, while the Green Paladin investigated his suit. “Does it work? How does this work?” They asked, inspecting the lightweight electronics in his arm.

  
“Of course it does.” He flexes his arm and the suit lights up before a screen popped up. “It gives me the readings of life forces around me.” He explains. The paladin gasps and leans closer.

  
“Cool.” They say. Their eyes are a solid brown and a few pieces of hair poke from their helmet. Keith leans forward and sniffs a few times. He leans back and frowns.

  
“Green Paladin…what are your preferred pronouns.” He asks. His mother had taught him to always ask before assuming. They look up, surprise filtering through their eyes.

  
“Oh. I prefer he and him pronouns…thank you for asking.” Keith nods and leaves it at that.

  
“So what’s your name?” The Yellow Paladin asks, leaning forward, their hands brought to their chest.

  
“Keith.”

* * *

His mother fixed his hair and adjusted his suit. “Mom, it’s fine.” Elvera sighed.

  
“The Princess is not all you think she will be. I will be there to help.” She said. Keith nods and they enter the room. It falls silent and the Princess turns.

  
“Ah. Elvera. Keith.” His mother twists her tail around her leg, trying to keep from lashing around.

  
“Princess. I’ve spoken to my son and Kolivan. We can allow him to be the Paladin, as long as someone from the Blade can accompany him.” The Princess arches an eyebrow and Keith is not confused as to what the meaning is.

“Having a half-galra is bad enough. I won’t have another.” She says. From his mother’s head tilt, Keith can tell her ears are flat on her head.

  
“Is that so?” She asks. “Then we won’t be needed here.” She turns, her tail loosening from her leg and lashed about. She looked at Keith and walked away. Keith followed, feeling sadness crawl up his stomach and into his throat.

  
“Ma?” He asks as they walk down to the hangar.

  
“Yes, Keith?” She asks.

  
“Do I have to go?” They enter the hangar and Elvera turns to look at him. She stares for a while, before sighing.

  
“Of course not. I would never make you choose between being a paladin or a blade.” She puts her hands on his shoulders and brings her head down, nuzzling him. “You will always be both.” She said. The door to the hangar opened and they looked over. The Princess walked in and sighed, holding her hands to her chest.

  
“I apologize. I did not mean to come off as abrasive.” She says. Elvera nods.

  
“I understand. It would take a lot of effort and time to overcome that sort of hatred. I shouldn’t have reacted like that, I apologize as well.” Elvera says. Her suit beeps and she holds up her arm. She sighs and turns to Keith. “I have to go. Please do your best, little one.” She says and walks past the Princess. She opens an airlock and steps inside, her mask evolving into a helmet.

  
“Uh. Elvera. What are you doing?” The Black Paladin asked, stepping forward. Keith came up and settled a hand on his arm.

  
“My mom is always one for dramatic exits. Just watch.” Elvera nods and slams her hand into the button, the doors shutting shut just as the ones that open to space opened. Elvera was sucked out, but she formed into a streamline shape, jetpacks flaring to life as she flew through the inky blackness. In a split second a ship was uncloaked and she flew inside. The ship disappeared and Keith turned to the Paladins. “Need me to do anything, Princess?”


	2. ii. pray for the oceans of stars

Keith fiddled with his suit, sighing as he adjusted it. It felt heavy on his chest. He fixed his hair and walked out of the room to see the others. The turned to greet him and he felt his heart stop in his chest at the Blue Paladin’s reaction, he had stopped and his eyes flashed from Keith’s feet to head and then back down. “Wow. You look human.” The Green Paladin said, leaning forward, glasses flashing. 

“Oh. My father is human.” Keith explained, before fiddling with his armor. His mother was normally here to help him with adjusting such things. He sighs. “Princess, may I change?” 

“I wouldn’t suggest doing so. We have training.” Keith perked up at that and nodded. They led him through the castle and he took the time to memorize the halls. They entered a room and he stared at the open space. It was so different from back home, where there were walls and platforms and nooks in the walls for gripping and jumping. It was more for training on fairgrounds than on realistic grounds. Princess Allura pulls up a screen and sets the level at 1. “Let’s see what you can do, Keith.” She says. He nods and walks to the center of the room. The floor vibrates and a droid drops from the ceiling. Keith is immediately alert. 

The droid was made up of white metal with gold and blue accents. Very royal looking. Keith takes a step back, assess the machine and races forward, dodging the slow movements and with a quick twist of his tighs around the neck of the machine, he beheads it. He looks over at Princess Allura. 

“That’s all?” He asks. He knew he shouldn’t get cocky, but he couldn’t help the emotion bubbling in his stomach. His mother would have sighed and smacked his head if she were here. Princess Allura arches an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face and Keith counts it as a win.

She sets it to level 15 and Keith can hear a multitude of machines dropping. His fingers itch for his blade, that he had stupidly left in his room. His hand drops to his thigh and something settles in his hand. He looks down. A red and white object was in his hand and never before has Keith been so confused. 

He dodged a swipe from one machine and kicked it away, before running between two others, letting them crash into each other. But it wasn’t long before he felt his legs get tired. His mother could run for days, but Keith was better with dealing with it then and now. He turns and focuses on the thing in his hand. He has five machines to finish and he can feel his adrenaline slowing in his veins. He was running out of energy.

He clenches his fist and the object in his hand flashes before the familiar weight of a sword was in his hand. On instinct, he swung, slicing cleanly through a machine, before leaping at another, stabbing it through it’s would-be-heart and throwing it at the others. He jumps and beheads another two, before grappling with the last one, it’s staff caught in his sword, his blade stuck between the machine and it’s staff. He lets go and swings with his fist, making contact and hissing under his breath at the crack of his bones. 

* * *

He sucks down the juice that was given to him, before putting it down and wrapping a bandage around his fist, clenching it and unclenching it. The Green Paladin, who had introduced himself as Pidge, watched, eyes wide. “Is something wrong, Pidge?” Keith asked. Pidge shook his head. 

“No. Just curious.” 

“About what?” Keith asked, curious himself. Pidge stayed quiet, before asking the question. 

“How does an alien, 6′7, with light purple fur, fluffy ears, and a tail, have someone as small and normal looking as you?” Pidge asked, leaning forward. Keith sucked down more of the juice, before answering. 

“Galra phenotypes are often recessive if they mate with another species. Though it depends on the species. Some halflings will have purple skin, fur or a tail, but look like their other parent.” Keith explained, quoting his mother, who had told it to him when he was 5 after he asked when he was going to get fluffy ears.

Pidge nodded. Keith finished the juice and the door to the hangar slid open, the Yellow Paladin peeking in. 

“I made cookies.” He walked in and set the plate down and Keith took one, munching on it when the others walked in. 

“I never got any of your names,” Keith said, shoving another cookie into his mouth. 

“He’s Hunk, he’s our engineer and best chef this side of the galaxy. This is Shiro, he’s our leader, big man on top.” The Blue Paladin said, pointing to the respective person. “And I’m Lance, sharpshooter, looking for-” 

“Alright, Lance,” Shiro said, eyeing the younger paladin. Lance grinned. Keith smiled and looked away while eating his cookie. 

* * *

His mother arrived after another day in the castle and Keith found her speaking passionately with Shiro, who kept nodding along. “Mom?” She paused in her telling and turned to her son. It was a rare occurrence when she had her mask off. Her long hair was put up in a tight bun, but loose strands of stark white in her otherwise pitch-black hair hung to frame her face. Her eyes were the Galra dull yellow, that glowed in the dark. Her fangs where little bits of white sticking from her upper lip. 

“Yes, little one?” She asked, straightening her back, from where she had leaned down to speak to Shiro. 

“Can I speak to you alone?” She nods and bows to Shiro before following her son to his room. The door shuts and Keith is whirling on his mother. “I have feelings!” His mother stares at him, before nodding. 

“Yes?” She sounds confused. 

“Feelings. For people.” 

“Like…” She trails off. “a mate?” She finishes. He nods and sits on his bed. His mother stands above him and smiles. “You are at that age. It’s expected.” 

“But I never heard of someone taking on more than one mate!” Keith said. His mother nods. 

“Your uncle has three mates.” Keith looks up from where he had cradled his face. 

“He does?” His mother sits on the bed, gripping his hand in her large one, encasing the pale flesh in purple fur. 

“Yes. How many mates you have is entirely up to you. I choose to only have one, purely because I could not see myself ever loving someone that was not your father. If you love two, then love them.” 

“What if they don’t understand?” Keith asked. His mother sighed. 

“That may happen. But please, little one. Try. You will feel more pain ignoring what feelings you have than acknowledge them and be rejected.” His mother spoke, petting his head. He leaned in and nuzzled into her chest as she cradled him close. 

* * *

“So how old are you, Keith?” Lance asked, throwing around his fork. Keith paused in eating. 

“About two decapheebs.” He answered, before returning to eating. Princess Allura nodded, while the Paladins stared at him in confusion. His mother chuckled. 

“Keith, I taught your human time increments, did I not?” She said. Keith blushed. 

“Yes. I’m 19 years old. Sorry about that guys.” Keith chuckles and shakes his head. 

“Oh, you’re pretty young,” Shiro says. Keith shrugs it off. 

“Well, how old are you guys?” 

“I’m about 25.” Shiro answers. 

“Hunk and I are 17. Pidge is 12.” 

“I’m not 12. I’m 14.” Pidge corrects them. Keith smiles. 

“I suppose I’m the oldest of you all.” Elvera chuckled, before scooping a spoonful of green goo into her mouth. 

“Well, how old are you?” Pidge asked. Elvera paused in her chewing before swallowing. 

“53 human years,” Elvera answered with a hush in her voice. Keith looked at his mother. She stared down at her bowl, frowning. Keith furrowed his brows but didn’t say anything. “Please excuse me.” She stands and leaves the table and Keith turns his head, following her figure out of the room. He frowned before standing as well. 

“Excuse me.” He chased after her, finding her in the hangar, staring up at the Red Lion. He approached and she looked down at him, tears falling down her cheeks, making the light fur dark. She doesn’t bother to wipe the tears away. Keith frowns. “I know you miss dad, mom.” He whispers. 

“Oh, little one. It’s much more than that.” She answers. 

“Like what?” Elvera smiles. 

“Nothing for you to worry about, starlight.” She said, before walking past him, leaving him in shock. She hasn’t called him that in years, not since getting news that his father was missing from Earth.

He turned, to ask her, but she was gone. He frowned and turned to the Red Lion, remembering a line from a Galran lullaby his mother would sing to him when she was sad and he was hurt. 

“ _And I hope you will pray to the sea of stars, for you are made of starlight._ ”


End file.
